Final goes down to the wire as HSOB beat Ngatapa in the Hardball T20 decider

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Cricket can be a hard old life, even for the young.
No captain could have worked harder to position his team to win the Junior Hardball T20 final than the Ngatapa Kings’ Archie Gillies, before a tide-turning over from Jack Williams of the High School Old Boys Pups on Saturday.
Gillies and HSOB skipper Patrick McInnes led by example in a thrilling game worthy of the final.
Aside from the tremendous effort of medium-pace bowler Williams (4-15 from three overs, one of which was a maiden), a key element in the contest was the “grace period” in junior cricket. 
Under this rule, a batsman cannot be dismissed in facing the first six balls of their innings. Rather, five runs are added to the opposing team’s score for each dismissal.
Depending on a team’s position and what is happening at a particular moment, it is a rule that can open doors or make a simple game harder to play and control.
Gillies said: "Congratulations to HSOB and thank you to the adults who do everything for all of us. Ngatapa performed well . . . our opener Tom Moylan (14) and No.6 Finnbar Whitfield (a run-a-ball 17) made great contributions with the bat. The game came down to the wire."
Gillies (16 from No.4) was one of three batsmen who retired — No.2 William Edginton (14) and No.5 Raffaele Colucci (19) were the others — in Ngatapa’s pursuit of the HSOB total of 158-1.
Gillies won the toss and chose to bowl on Nelson Park artificial pitch No.1.
Pups skipper McInnes (34 off 20 balls) faced the first ball; he and Jack Williams (43 off 20) at second 
drop were outstanding as two of the six batsmen to retire in the HSOB innings.
They were the only major run-scorers on the day to score at more than a run a ball, crucially showing intent to score and rare game-sense. McInnes recognised a dangerous bowler in Kings leg-spinner Conrad Parkes. 
At the beginning of Parkes’ second spell, three balls into his third over, the HSOB captain went a fair way down the track to hit a well-flighted delivery over long-on for six.
HSOB lost their only wicket — outside of three grace-period dismissals, which saw Ngatapa awarded 15 runs — at 109. Anaru Lucas (1-12 from 
two overs), a much-improved cricketer with the ability to produce a fine outswinger, was the deserving bowler.
The standard of batsmanship remained high — though more cautious — in the Kings’ chase.
Canny management by Gillies meant the scoreboard ticked over. He used a drop-and-run tactic . . . local cricket at all levels could benefit from that eye for a single and good judgement. 
The Kings lost wickets with the score at 54, 85 and 138 before medium-pacer Williams bowled the over of a lifetime to turn the game on its head in the 19th over.
Ngatapa needed six runs from 12 balls to win.
Finnbar Whitfield was playing an excellent hand, and kept out the first ball of the 19th over. Williams then bowled Whitfield, and bowled No.8 Anaru Lucas twice to complete his hat-trick. He then bowled a dot-ball, and bowled Lucas again to end the over.
Ngatapa now needed 21 to win off six balls. Lucas (3) and James Redpath (10), seventh man in, were batting superbly when the game wrapped up. The never-say-die Kings had reached 152-8.
The Pups had come back in a remarkable finish to prevail by six runs.
McInnes said: “We made a great bowling and fielding effort to limit the number of boundaries Ngatapa hit.
“They gave us a run for our money, so we were very happy with the result.”
The Year 7-8 age group has been well served this season by coaches such as David Milne (Kings) and Daniel Williams (Pups), and scorers Joyce Parkes and Dayna Green.